Mitch's POV

Heading for Duluth, MN on I-35

We had put forty or so miles between us and the shit storm we left behind, and I could feel Eve shivering into my back. She wasn't dressed properly for the road. I saw a Wal-Mart sign on the next exit, and pulled off the freeway and into the lot. "Come on," I told her, "Let's get you some clothes that actually fit."

"You don't like me in your clothes," she teased.

"I love it, baby, but in the bedroom, not the freeway." She blushed as I took her hand, leading her in. It was still early, before seven, so it wasn't busy. I took her to the women's wear section and told her to pick out versatile clothes because we didn't have much room. "It's going to be cold up by the lake, so make sure you have a jacket," I said. "What size shoe are you?"

"Seven," she said as she pulled a pair of jeans off the shelf.

I left her and went to collect a few things I needed. I had a change of clothes in my saddlebag, plus what she was wearing, so I grabbed socks and underwear. I found her some short boots in her size, and a leather jacket, then a small backpack to hold everything. I swung by electronics and bought a burner phone, then headed back to her. She had a small pile of clothes ready; she tried on the boots and jacket. "All set?"

She looked at the cart. "I think so."

"Good, wait here, I'm going to buy this, and you can change. Leave your old clothes in the backpack," I said. I quickly checked out before going back to the dressing room, handing the clothes and shoes over, trying to ignore the flashbacks of her naked body as she ran to me last night.

This woman was going to be the death of me, and I didn't care. She opened the door, and my jaw dropped. Form-hugging jeans over the boots I'd picked, a cotton shirt in a white, red and blue plaid, a studded belt and a leather jacket. "Ready?" She just smirked as I tried to get my head into the game.

"Yeah, let's go." I took her hand and led her out. "By the way, where are we going?"

"Other than away?" I nodded. "My parent's old place, it's on the North Shore, a little inland."

"When was the last time you were there?"

"I've never been there," she said as we reached my motorcycle. "My Mom saved my birth mother's old stuff, her albums and all. I've looked at it on the Internet, that's all."

I thought about it, it was about three hours more to Duluth and then the North Shore could be an hour or four, depending on how far up we had to go. "How much sleep did you get?"

"Not enough," she said.

"Let's go another hour or so and find a place to eat and a motel, then. We both need sleep." She pulled herself tight to me as I exited the lot and back onto the freeway. Ninety minutes later, we were walking into a room in a little motel off the freeway exit. "I want you to take a shower and change," I said, "and I'll be back in a little bit with some breakfast."

"Pancakes, eggs and bacon, please. Lots of bacon."

I had the burner phone in my pocket as I walked to the diner across the street. I sent a quick text to Donut, telling him that I had Eve with me, she was safe, and we would call at dinnertime. I then turned the phone off. When I returned, she was sitting on the queen bed, hair in a towel, wearing only a T-shirt that hinted at the underwear below them. I had to fight to stay eyes up as we ate, then I tucked her in before I went to take my shower.

My long shower, which ended with me painting the wall as my knees buckled.

I knew what I was up against; her parents, her guardians, hell the whole club was against me being with her. God had gifted me with one chance to spend time alone with her, and I wasn't going to blow it by scaring her now. She'd killed someone, she'd been up a long time, it was bound to catch up to her and I needed her to trust me enough to talk to me.

I pulled on boxers and a T-shirt, taking time to brush my teeth and shave. When I got out of the bathroom, the lights were off, there was just a glow from the window that showed her in the bed, her hair splayed out over the pillow. I went to the closet, grabbing an extra blanket and finding a spot that was cleaner than the rest on the floor, I grabbed a pillow and laid down. "Mitch?" Her voice was soft and broken.

"Yes love?"

"Hold me?" Like I would turn that down. I slid under the covers, moving over until I was in the center of the bed. She turned towards me, her head on my shoulder, hand over my chest, and a leg tossed over mine. "I'm scared," she said.

"I've got you, Eve, I'll die before I let anything bad happen to you."

"That's what I'm scared about, Mitch. Everything is out of control, I don't know who can protect me. The Knights, they put me into the situation that resulted in last night's battle. My Dad wants to lock me in a tower at the club."

"What do you want, baby?"

"I want my life to be my own," she said. Her fatigue caught up to her, and I listened as her breathing deepened before I dropped off to sleep myself.

Eve's POV

I woke up to the sound of a semi-truck horn, feeling hot and flushed. My shirt had ridden up as we slept, and his hand was in the center of my back. My hand had drifted south, where it had bumped up against something in his shorts. I froze as I thought about it, this was the closest I had ever been to a man's junk. The covers had been pushed down, so I had a good view down his flat stomach to it. It looked big, and it twitched a little as I watched. Curious, I moved my hand into the slit in front, letting my fingertips touch him softly. He moaned a little, his hips moving towards me, so I kept going. I got my hand around it, feeling its size. I'd seen stuff on the Internet, but this was impressive even for that. I couldn't get my hand around the girth, it was like holding a Coke can. I moved the underwear aside, bringing it into view, and let out a soft gasp as I saw the whole thing.

My hand at the base left room for another before it got to the bulbous head. I was wondering how the hell that thing would fit in a woman, it must hurt like hell. I moved my hand up and down a little, and was rewarded with another moan. I moved my head down, getting a closer look as I slowly jacked him. I felt his hand moving up my back to my hair as his hips started to pump against my hand. I blew on the head, causing it to flare out, and when I took it into my lips, I felt him start to pulse. "OH GODDDDD..." He started shooting into my mouth, quickly filling it, and I had to swallow to keep up. I kept sucking until he pulled me up, kissing me deeply. "I loved that," he said. "What made you, I mean?"

"I was curious, and I've never done that," she said. "I've never done anything."

"I know," he said. "And there are all kinds of things I'd like to do for you, when you are ready for them. I don't think that's right now." I nodded, rolling onto my back and looking at the ceiling. He rolled towards me, kissing me, moving down to my neck as I moaned my approval. He pulled my shirt over my breasts, the nipples hardening in the colder air.

"Oooh," I gasped as his mouth latched onto my nub, sucking it into his mouth as his tongue flicked over it. My body was on fire, little tingling sensations working there way down my body, my sex swelling in preparation. He went to my other breast, teasing both to hardness before he gently pinched them. His hands kept up the torture, rubbing them and pinching them, as his mouth continued down my stomach and his teeth pulled my thong to the side.

"Beautiful," he said before his tongue moved forward.

"Oh my..." My hands went to the back of his head, pulling him closer as he licked me gently. His hands moved down my side, moving to cup my ass and lift me into position for him. It was heavenly, my eyes were closed as I experienced a lover for the first time. He built the tension, finally causing me to break as I screamed his name, holding him in place until my orgasm had washed over me. When I was relaxed again, he moved back up and rolled me on top of him as he laid on his back. I could feel his hard length against my thigh, my hips starting to roll towards it.

"No," he said as he spanked my ass. "We have to get on the road again before I lose any self-control I have left and spend the next three days making love to you."

I kissed his chest. "Like that would be so bad."

"Come on," he said as my stomach growled, "let's get you fed and get going."

We ate at the diner before getting back on the road. Mitch turned on the burner phone and handed it to me. "You're an adult, Eve. Reassure them you are all right and you'll be back, but you don't have to listen to them yell at you. It wasn't long ago they were going to ship you off with a guy you just met."

He didn't have to remind me, we had talked about mates and mating in the small diner over steak and potatoes. He still hadn't freaked about my shift in the alley, and he told me he'd known about our kind for a week and suspected I was one too. I was relieved, one of my fears was that he would see me as a freak and not want to be with me.

The phone call didn't go well. I called Kelly, she was crying and Dad was yelling and everyone was telling me I had to come home right NOW and how much trouble I was in. Finally, I couldn't take it. "I love you Dad, I'll be home in a few days." I ended the call and turned the power off as Mitch pulled me into his side.

The traffic was heavy, the tourism in summer on the North Shore was in full swing. Our motorcycle blended right in, a lot of clubs did rides up here to get away from the heat and humidity of the city. If the wind was off the still-cold Lake Superior, it could be in the fifties. Switch the wind and you're in the nineties. We had to stop to add or remove clothes a few times before we stopped for the night in Silver Bay. We were lucky to find a vacancy at a resort off the lake, they had cozy little cabins tucked into the woods. We went into town for dinner, did a little exploring with each other, then went to sleep. I wanted to get an early start.

I directed him to the Pack lands as we drove on the near-empty two-lane roads inland. I loved the smells up here, the pine and birch forests, the creeks and waterfalls, the lakes. It took an hour to get to the turnoff, and the road was blocked with a gate and a NO TRESSPASSING- PRIVATE PROPERTY sign. Mitch parked the bike out of sight from the road, and we looked at the overgrown trail. "I don't think anyone has been here in years," he said.

I scented the air, I detected nothing except rabbits and deer. "Would you mind if I shift?"

"Not at all, I'd like to see you naked. And your wolf."

"Pervert," I said as I pulled my boots off. He took the backpack and folded my stuff, putting it inside then on his back. I shifted into my wolf, shaking out my fur before I rubbed my scent onto his legs. He scratched my ears and knelt down in front of me as I put my muzzle on his shoulder, licking his neck.

"You're so beautiful, it takes my breath away," he said. I licked him again, then took off through the woods, going through the fencing where a downed tree had knocked it down. I ran around, sniffing and having fun, making sure not to get too far ahead of him. It took us almost two hours to walk to the clearing where the Pack House and buildings had been.

I stopped and shifted, dropping to my knees as tears rolled from my eyes. The place I had seen in the pictures was gone; the main house had burned to the ground, the foundation walls and basement covered with debris, vines and shrubs. I looked across to where the Pack Clinic was, the place my birth mother Jessica had learned about medicine, where my adoptive mother Vivian had worked as a contract doctor. I was sobbing hard as Mitch pulled me back into his arms, he held me until the tears had stopped.

He handed me clothes, and I quickly dressed. I started walking through the destruction, holding on to his hand with a death grip and I described what I remembered from Mom's photos. We moved through the tall grass towards a group of houses in the back, and I stopped at the second one from the left. The walls had collapsed, some of the roof pieces hadn't burned completely. I picked my way in, hoping that there was something left from my family after almost a quarter century of being abandoned. Mitch helped me move the roof section aside, and as I dug through the piles underneath my eyes came across a small jewelry box.

I was shaking as I opened it. Inside, a necklace sat, a heart-shaped locket at the bottom. I held it in my fingers, finding the catch, and gasped as it opened. I recognized my grandmother, my grandfather, and a baby who was my own mother in the tiny picture. I closed the locket and was still shaking as Mitch put it around my neck. "What happened to them?"

"When the curse started, women became valuable. It didn't matter they were all dying, they had the chance to deliver heirs, to be the one who escaped the curse. A stronger Pack attacked ours, and killed all the men and boys. The women were carted off to be force mated." I looked around at the destruction. "They probably burned the houses to hide the evidence and get rid of the bodies," I said.

He pulled me to his chest as I sobbed against him. I took a deep breath, something was... wolf... it wasn't a rogue, he smelled clean. Hell, he smelled great. I looked over at the edge of the woods where a big grey and black wolf with white streaks was staring at me. I felt my heart lurch as his mouth opened, before he let out a mournful howl and ran off. I could hear the thunder of paws approaching, something was wrong. "We have to get out of here," I told Mitch.

"Shift and run," he told me as he tossed his keys on the ground. "Get back to my motorcycle and take off. I'll make my way back, you pick me up in three hours."

I didn't want to, but I had to. The only way to avoid the Pack coming my way was to run myself. I pulled off my clothes. "Stay safe," I said before I kissed him and shifted, grabbing the keys before running off towards the road.

Ch. 64

Snake's POV

I looked around at the clubhouse, so proud of my club and how we had rallied. Outside the gates, the fire had been put out in the SUV they had tried to drive Eve away in. We had collected all the dead, stuffing them in the back of a cargo van in the shop for now until they could be disposed of. Everyone involved in the fight or cleanup had showered and changed, and a front came through bringing torrential rains and cooler temperatures, washing any blood away in the parking lots.

We just might get out of this unscathed, I thought.

Donuts was still out there with the White Bear Lake police, planting the idea it was a stolen car some gangbangers had taken from Colorado to Minnesota with a load of weed. To back that up, I had my resident computer whiz member, Mitch, file a stolen vehicle report in Colorado dated yesterday. There wasn't much left of the vehicle, the glass had all blown out and it was completely gutted by the firebomb.

Upstairs, Meghan was still patching people up. Viper was cranky as he waited on a cot outside the room, his foot bandaged and elevated. Down the hall, Crash was lying in a cot with a bandage on his arm and an IV. "Michael still in there," I asked.

"Yeah, he was in bad shape. Meghan said I could wait."

Kelly was in a chair next to him. "She said he caught a ricochet in the foot, she'll remove it after Michael and Crash are done. Crash will be fine, he took a through-and-through to his upper arm."

"Good." I patted Viper's shoulder and gave Kelly a hug before I went back downstairs. Everyone was finished with the fast cleanup, we couldn't do more until the cops left. "Anything new on Eve?"

"No," one of the Knights said. "We followed her trail to an alley about eight blocks away where it disappeared. She must have gotten in a vehicle. It wasn't them, we're pretty sure. We tracked the two wolves that chased her as they searched for her after she disappeared, then they took off."

I was happy she had gotten away, but terrified of what may be going on with her now. A thought came to mind. "Hey, who took out the car Eve was in?"

A bunch of people looked around at each other. "We didn't fire on it," Shakes finally said. "Too risky with Eve in the back."

Moose thought for a minute. "The driver was shot through the side window, not from the back," he said. "Plus, the Alpha and Beta were shot before we even got our rifles out. It wasn't us."

"Mitchell. It had to be him," Tiny said. With Viper injured, he was in charge now. He read the text, the warning text Mitchell had sent Donut before the attack. "He must have been here and set up a hide. Moose, take a Knight and sniff around out there, figure out where he was. I'm going to have Donuts stop by his house, maybe he took her there." Moose left with two men, and Tiny pulled out his phone. Donuts responded right away, he told us he was done out there and would get his car and drive over to his apartment.

"Rocket, take the two prospects," he pointed at Chewie and Tony. "As soon as the cops leave, drive the van with the bodies out to our property in Wisconsin. Leave it there and drive back with them," he said.

"What about Gabriel?" He was on his way, he had left Chicago with his men as soon as word of the attack got out.

"He'll be here in a few hours, but I've texted him our plan. He's going to leave some of his men at the property to take care of the bodies. Four of them are his men, after all. Rocket, you'll have to pull into the loading dock of their building to get the other two."

"I hope they leave soon, that van isn't going to smell good," Rocket said.

"Good reason for you to not get caught. Don't speed, don't be stupid. Prospects, if he's getting pulled over you do something to get them to chase you instead, got it?" They nodded.

"Snake, you, Shakes and Mitch start doing what you can to find out where Eve went. Hack traffic cams, check their phones, whatever you need."

I nodded. "I think her phone is still in her bag in the car outside, I'll get it," I said.

"I'll get it, you get your skinny fry-cook ass in the kitchen and make us breakfast," he ordered. "We're hungry."

I just nodded, at least cooking would give me something to do other than lose my mind. "OK, for everyone else, we don't need any attention drawn to us, so it's business as usual." There was some nervous laughter at this. "Well, as usual as we can make it seem, except the whole picking up spent brass and making sure the bloodstains are gone thing. Send the kids to school, go to work. When we know where Eve is, we'll let everyone know."

I went back into the kitchen, turning on the grill as I prepped something fast. Twenty minutes later, I had eggs, bacon, and French toast flying out of the kitchen to the grateful crowd. I finished breakfast myself before wiping things down and going back out. "Any word?"

"We found his sniper hide, it's definitely Mitchell who did the shooting," Tiny said. "He used over a magazine from his AR-15, and he isn't going to miss many. I'm sure he's the one who took out the Alpha, he waited until she was out of the line of fire, then took them both out. They're boxing up his gear and bringing it back."

"What about his apartment?"

"Empty, neighbor said he heard him come and go well before sunrise. Said a girl was with him." I let out a breath, at least she was with someone on our side, even if he did look at her like he wanted to bang her on the table in front of us. "Oh, and Snake? Moose said from the looks of his hide, he's been watching the clubhouse for weeks."

I was up to a rolling boil now. "The little fuck, spying on us like that?"

"Probably trying to see Eve coming out of the shower or something, since you don't let her out of her room when he's here," Tiny said. I wanted to punch him just for suggesting that, but then I looked at Tiny and my sane side prevailed.
"His ass is MINE when we catch up with them," I said. "Any word on that, Mitch?"

He nodded. "I've been checking traffic cams, hoping to see them," he said. "I caught this a block from where they lost her scent." It was a blurry image, but enough to make out a naked Eve on the back of Mitch's motorcycle. "I didn't pick them up again for another twenty minutes, this time they were on a ramp to I-35E north." He showed that image, she was now dressed in sweats, her arms tight around his waist. "That was an hour ago. I've been checking cameras farther north, trying to see if they left the Cities or not."

I texted Donuts, asking if he knew anyplace in the North Metro that Mitchell might go to lay low for a while. "Anything else we can do?"

"Not really. I checked their phones, we have hers and his was found at the sniper hide. He's good, if he wants to hide, he's not leaving much for us to go on."

I went up and sat by Viper and Kelly, quickly updating them on what was going on. "Any idea where they may have gone?"

"Away from you, I bet," Kelly said. "Look at this from her perspective for a change. Her whole life she's been told she's some Werewolf Princess who has been sheltered from everything. Her friends, her brother, they go to school, go on dates, dances. What does she do? She gets to go on motorcycle rides where she's completely surrounded by dozens of old men, unable to even look at anyone else." She snorted. "At least she could do that until you stopped even THAT. Then you take her to Chicago, parade a couple hundred horny men past her, then rush back here because your plan didn't work. She knows she's bringing danger to the Club, everyone knows about her now, so running might just make sense."

"She's vulnerable out there!"

"She was vulnerable HERE, Snake. At her home, with her friends held at gunpoint as we waited for her. Look, we know Mitch likes her, she may like him. She feels safer hiding with him than us right now."

I shook my head. "She's NOT safer, we need to find her. Do you know anyone in the North Metro she might run to for help?"

"No, but you can check her social media. See if she's talking to anyone up that way." I nodded. "By the way, Michael is out of surgery and Crash is being patched up now, we're on deck." I gave her a hug and went back downstairs.

Donut came running in to the clubhouse, still in full uniform. "I got a text from Mitchell," he said, a little out of breath. "He said he's got her, they are safe, and they'll call again at dinnertime."

"Give that to Mitch," I said before he handed it over.

Mitch looked at the phone number, then did some stuff on his computer. "That phone number is a burner phone. He probably just bought it."

"Can you tell where?"

"Working on it." Ten minutes later he had the answer, a Wal-Mart just off I-35 near Forest Lake." I looked at the map; they were out of the cities and heading north. "Can you track the phone?"

"He turned it off, so no. Not until he uses it again."

We kept at it for an hour until Kelly pulled me aside. "Snake, assume they don't want to get in touch. How are you going to protect them if you aren't close to them?"

It was like a light went off. "Tiny, we need to send some guys north, we can go a little farther than where this shows. If you find them, you pass us the location and we're an hour closer at least."

He nodded, it made sense. "As soon as Gabriel is here, we'll set it up. We need his men too, just in case other wolves get involved." I ran upstairs to grab some clothes and supplies for my backpack, among them my silver-bullet pistols and a pair of handcuffs. We'd have to take the SUV, because Eve sure as hell wasn't riding on the back of his bike again, ever.

Gabriel's POV

It had been hard for me to let go of my anger, both at the Alpha and myself. The whole ride back from Chicago, I was beating myself up for failing my charge yet again. "We're almost here, Alpha," my driver said.

We were making a short stop at our land in Wisconsin to pay our respects to our four men who had died today. I left a half-dozen men there to take care of the bodies, then we continued into the Cities. I had been getting updates throughout the drive from my men, and I had talked to Tiny about Eve. Right now we didn't know where she was, so I was going to keep some men in reserve with his men to go get her if she turned up. My first priority was taking care of the Colorado Pack.

I had my men set up a videoconference with our Allied Packs at noon, that would give me enough time to get back and prepare. The Colorado pack was not small, and they would be out for blood. It was my job to ensure the threat to Eve from them was gone. When we arrived at our Pack House, I sent Abaddon and a few others to the Clubhouse to link up with Tiny.

Abaddon called me back a few minutes later, he was taking six men with him to go after Eve based on the last location they had on her. He was going to ride with Snake and a driver, so they could stay in touch, the rest of the men were riding motorcycles. The plan was simple; she wouldn't be doubling back, so we were going to stagger one wolf and one human every fifty miles or so between Forest Lake and Duluth. We'd keep an eye on the freeway and wait for the next position, hoping at least one of us would be close enough to get to her quickly.

The videoconference went well; our allies were outraged that after all that had happened at the Conference, one of the guests tried to do this. Three Packs much closer to them than us vowed to take care of the problem for us, and I was happy to let them. That was one less problem for me to deal with right now.

I went over to the Clubhouse late in the afternoon, after it was clear to me that the surviving Pack members had left town. Tensions were high, everyone was worried, including me. I checked on Michael, he was awake after surgery and alive thanks to Meghan. He would be out for a few days. Crash and Viper were downstairs, Viper's foot in a protective boot as he got around on crutches.

We ate a nervous dinner together, takeout Chinese as both of our cooks were gone. Finally, Kelly got a phone call, and when she said it was Eve we all got quiet. The conversation didn't go well, Eve ended up hanging up on them. "Mitch, did you get a location?"

His fingers were flying over the keyboard. "It's a cell tower in Moose Lake," he said. "Can't narrow it down closer than that, not enough time."

"Still moving north, not that quickly," I said. "I think we should move more people up that way. Ask around if anyone has seen them, check the motels and stuff."

"Do it," Viper said. "Let's get ahead of them for a change." More men were sent north, but that was all we could do for now.

Kelly's POV

Viper wasn't sleeping well, he had to get up to take pain pills and the boot made him uncomfortable. I was worried about my granddaughter, so we made quite the pair in our bed at home. I'd finally talked him into leaving the Clubhouse when it was clear nothing else would be happening tonight.

I woke up from a dead sleep, my subconscious brought something to my memory. I immediately woke Viper. "Baby, remember five years ago when we were telling Eve about her birth mother and Vivian's history?"

"Yeah, you two were looking through Jessica's stuff," he said.

"I think I know where she is going," I said. "She wanted to go visit Jessica's pack lands, and we told her no. Gabriel didn't want to risk it, he said that area still has a lot of lone wolves about, even if the organized Packs are gone. Remember how disappointed she was? How she kept asking until we finally told her it was never going to happen?"

"SHIT." He reached for the phone, calling a number. "Gabriel, it's Viper. We think Eve is headed for Jessica's old Pack grounds. Yes, the North Shore Pack." He listened for a minute. "You know where it is, right? Get some men up there right away."

We both couldn't sleep, hoping that I was right and we got there in time.

Ch. 65

Eve's POV

I ran hard through the woods, but the Pack chasing me was closing in fast. I stumbled as I leaped a downed tree, a sudden pain in my leg causing me to lose my concentration. I rolled when I hit, losing the keys, and lost precious seconds as I had to find them and pick them up in my mouth again. I was in so much trouble; despite everything I had been taught, I was in a strange land with no protection, and everything could go bad quickly. My back left leg hurt, then my right. I pushed on.

The story Dad told me about how Vivian was attacked during the trip to Florida and force mated was up front in my thoughts as I ran like the wind. In her diary I was given when I was sixteen, I read about how she gave up hope of finding her true mate, losing her virginity to her personal guard. I knew how much she suffered, and even after marrying Dad, she lived in fear of being taken again.

I was a fool. A kid throwing a tantrum because I didn't get my way, and I was going to pay the price. A sudden headache made my eyes narrow, I had to breathe through the pain before it went away.

"Eve! It's Abaddon, slow down so we can escort you back to our vehicles!"

I almost stumbled when I got the mental message from the Master at Arms of my Pack.

"You're chasing me?"

"Yes, although I sent two to get Mitch and four after that wolf who found you." I slowed to a trot, hearing them approach. As they got closer, and I could smell their familiar scents, I relaxed again. I was happy to see them, they weren't so happy with me. "What in the hell do you think you're doing out here? And why do you smell of sex and that vile human?"

"I'm sorry... I just want to go home. This was all a mistake, I've made so many mistakes."

Abaddon came alongside me, turning me towards the direction they came from. "You are all right, we'll deal with the rest when you get home," he said.

"Don't hurt the wolf, he didn't do anything," I said. "He just looked at me, howled and ran off. There was something about him, though. He smelled, I don't know, it was amazing. I wish I could bottle it."

Abaddon stopped. "Did you look in his eyes?"

"Yes, his eyes were amazing, it was like I could see right into... oh Luna... oh shit... THAT WAS MY MATE!"

"Shit. GUYS DON'T HARM THE WOLF HE MIGHT BE HER MATE," he thundered over the link.

"Too late," Samsiel replied. "He fought when we caught him, he's alive for questioning like you asked but he isn't going anywhere soon. I knocked him out and both his legs are broken."

"NOOO!" I turned to run towards him, only to be tackled and held down by Abaddon. Struggling was useless, he was almost twice my size in wolf form and an experienced warrior, I wasn't going anywhere.

"We continue back," he told me. "Samsiel, make a stretcher and bring him to our cars. Doc Meghan will be here in a few hours with the ambulance."

"On it, boss. It's going to take a few hours to get there anyway."

I stopped struggling, and he let me stand again. Placing himself between me and where we came from, he growled until I lowered my head and started moving towards their cars again. The group of wolves with him took stations around us, alert and ready to respond to any other threats.

I had a lot of time to think as we moved back to the cars. No longer running hard, we only needed about twenty more minutes to make it back to the road that they had parked along. They verified there was no traffic, then I turned around while the men shifted and pulled clothes out to change into. One of them handed me a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, and all the men turned away as I shifted and put them on. "How much trouble am I in?"

"On a scale from one to ten, you're at fourteen, maybe more after they find out what you've been up to." Abaddon said. "Call your father and let him know you are safe."

He handed me his phone and I dialed Dad's number. "Dad? It's me, I'm safe with the Knights."

"Thank god, Eve, you had us all so worried." I could feel his relief.

"I'm so sorry Dad, I was foolish, and I put myself and you guys in danger." I was crying by now. "Are you all right?"

"Viper and Crash were shot but survived, Michael was hit bad but will pull through. The Knights, they lost four men in the attack." Oh Luna... I had no idea, I'd barely thought of what might have happened to those left behind after I was driven out of the parking lot of the clubhouse. "Don't give them any trouble, they aren't in the mood for it."

"I won't." The guys were giving me space, I knew they could still hear me, but they were pretending not to. "Dad, I really screwed up. I think I saw my mate."

"That's wonderful! What's his name? When do you see him again?"

"The Knights are bringing him, they thought he was a threat and they hurt him bad. Dad... I didn't recognize him at first, it took a while to figure out what my reaction was since I only got a quick look and a sniff. But... I was with Mitch when he saw me, he was hugging me as I was crying. I think he smelled me, smelled us, and took off."

"That's not bad, you can explain that to him. I'm sure he'll understand."

"No..." Oh Luna, this was not a conversation I wanted to have. "He smelled US. We were, um, kind of together the night before."

"Oh god... I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL HIM!" I heard a crash and the phone cut off. He probably threw his phone and broke it. I was pretty sure I was now over a fifteen on the scale.

I sat on the road, leaning back against the SUV, wondering how the hell my life had spun so out of control while I was having a great time. If I had only insisted on calling my Dad from Mitch's house, I would have saved all of them a lot of time and effort. Instead, all I thought about was myself. I handed Abaddon his phone back, and instead of leaving me alone, he sat down by me. "I ruined everything, didn't I?"

He laughed a little. "No, not everything. You haven't mated another werewolf yet, so there's still a chance to get through this. Mitch, not so much. If your Dad doesn't kill him, your mate just might. Didn't anyone ever tell you how jealous a male gets when he finds out his mate has been canoodling with someone else?"

"Canoodling? Geez, just how old are you?" He shook his head. "I didn't go all the way, it wasn't 'sex' sex. I'm still a virgin."

"That may help, but you have an uphill climb. The bond will help, and so will the drugs Meghan gives him while he heals. Love forgives all, young one, and in that bond, you will find all the love you need."

"Can you feel it before you actually mate?"

He nodded. "Did you know I met but never actually got to mate my true mate?" I shook my head no. "I was a Pack Warrior, I was protecting the Luna of our Pack as we visited another. I had sworn an oath to protect her with my life, above even my own happiness. I saw my true mate as the Luna went through the reception line, she was the eldest daughter of that Pack's Beta and was underage. I was able to shake her hand, look in her eyes... I got lost. We knew what we were to each other, our wolves started to bond with that look. I couldn't break away from my duties, and a month later she was killed when another Pack attacked them. My Alpha, he had been called there to discuss a treaty with her Pack, but he wanted too much in return and it didn't happen."

"And you never saw her again?"

"No." He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "I felt her as she died, felt the pain as she was ripped apart. I blamed my Alpha, I went rogue that day. I went back to her home, found her and her family and sent them off properly."

"You never mated again."

He nodded. "I eventually met Gabriel in my travels, and what Luna said in his vision resonated. I couldn't have my true mate, but I could protect the hope of our species. I took the vow, devoted my life to preparing for war and took the name Abaddon. And now, I'm back where I started. Guarding the last hope of our species is what I have vowed to do. You, Eve. You have a responsibility as well, to make our sacrifice, our lives, to make them worth something. It's never about just you, it never has been."

Everything was hitting me at once, I felt so small, so stupid. I needed to put on my big girl panties and quit being a spoiled teenager. I'd apologize, take my punishment and move forward. So much had been lost. I thought about them for a while as we sat quietly together. "I'm sorry about your friends. How did it happen?"

He told me of what they had found when I was taken, and the battle that happened behind me. "They died doing what they pledged to do, to keep the Promised One safe. It was a sacred pledge each of us made, a pledge I've lived now for over two decades. I prayed to Luna that I would live to see you break the curse on our people, and now we're so close."

"If I get him to forgive me and we mate," I said.

"Yes, child. It is your destiny, just as mine was to protect you. Here you tried to run from your destiny, you rebelled and went far from where you belonged. And yet, you end up in his back yard, looking at each other from across the clearing. Luna certainly has a flair for the dramatic," he said with a chuckle. "Come on, let's get you into the car. I'm getting too old to be sitting on the pavement this long."

He opened the back door for me and I slid in across the soft leather. I was glad to be alone again, it gave me time to think. I closed my eyes, working through my true feelings for Mitch. He made me feel desired, special, but did I love him, or did I love the idea of someone like him loving me? And what about my mate, my wolf was already fighting me on this, she wanted him and him only.

I couldn't have both, and worst case I wouldn't have either.

My life was a mess.

Unknown POV

When I went to investigate the scent coming from near the old Pack house, I was confused. It was a wolf, and a human, but the wolf smelled female and that just couldn't be right. Shewolves were extinct, the last ones had died almost ten years ago.

Still, I ran to the area, the scent getting stronger and my wolf getting more excited the whole way. I stopped in the treeline, looking at the couple locked in a loving embrace among the ashes of one of the homes. His scent was thick on her, her arousal on him. Underneath it all, one scent my wolf recognized.

MATE.

I stared at her as she was in his embrace, my shock slowly being replaced by anger, then by revulsion. How could Luna do this to me? My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of wolves coming fast. I looked back to her, howled in warning, then took off for home.

The straight path home would let them take an angle and cut me off, so I veered away from them. These were my woods, I knew them like the back of my hand, and I'd take that advantage. I led them away, looping back in a wide arc, finding out too late they hadn't been fooled.

The two warriors, both bigger and older, were waiting for me when I emerged from around the rock formation I had weaved through. I tried to get by, but one got his teeth in my back left leg. He held tight, causing me to hit the ground heavily as I heard the bone snap. He let go, I got up on three legs, and we started to fight. I shredded his ear, but the second wolf took out my back right leg the same way. I couldn't stand, and when I tried to crawl away with my front legs, they gave a warning growl. I rolled on my back, exposing my neck. One of the warriors shifted, he was an older wolf, his skin covered in tattoos and scars. "SHIFT," he said.

I complied, the change coming over me as the pained howl became an agonizing scream. The man helped me sit up, he was sizing me up as a threat. "I'm no rogue," I said, "I'm a lone wolf. I've lived on this land my whole life."
"This is North Shore Pack land, kid."

"No shit. My Pack no longer exists." The second wolf had shifted, and I heard two more approaching. "Now what the hell are you guys doing on my land?"

The guys who walked out of the trees towards me were not happy they had missed the fight. "We ask the questions here," the one said as he picked up a thick branch. One of the men grabbed my hair just before the log knocked me the fuck out.

Ch. 66

Eve's POV

I had finished crying for now, and I looked around at the men surrounding my car as I sat in the back seat. Abaddon walked over to my window and tapped on it, he had just been talking with his men. "My men will be back here with Mitch in about five minutes," he told me. "I need to know what you think about him."

"Why?"

"It matters in how I handle him when he gets here. It also matters because your father will be here shortly after, along with Gabriel."

I looked down at my feet, wondering how I could face him again. "I don't want him hurt," I said. "He did save my life. What we did together, that was as much my doing as his, I mean, I started it. But..." I looked out at the woods where he would be coming from. "I need to break it off with him. I can't be alone with him anymore; my wolf won't let me, and it doesn't feel right."

He opened the door and helped me out, I leaned against the side with him as we waited. "I'll give you two a few minutes to talk when he gets here. If he behaves, I'll let him go."

"You will?" My mind had been filled with images of him being hurt, even killed.

"Snake will be pissed, Viper too, but I have to think of the good of the Club and of you. You're still alive, safe, and you don't need to go through this time thinking you're responsible for his death. He has to cooperate, though; if he can't leave you behind, there's not much I can do to help him. It wasn't healthy attraction, Eve, he was stalking you." I looked at him a little surprised. "We found the sniper hide he'd been using on top of an abandoned building, plus we broke the security on his laptop. He had a high-power camera, he'd been watching the Clubhouse for weeks. He had files on each of us, each Club member, but the stuff he had of you... let's just say he'd seen you naked before this little run of yours."

I put my hand over my mouth. "Oh shit..."

"Yeah. Break it off, quick and clean, because there is no way in hell he's going to be allowed around the Club or you. If your family doesn't kill him, we will. He's unstable, Eve, and he's a threat to you." I thought about it as he moved away. It was only a minute more before I heard them moving through the woods, Mitch was between two of the Knights, and he didn't look happy.

"EVE!" He started to run towards me; they let him, but they formed a loose circle around us. He tried to run into my arms, but I put my hand up and stopped him. "Baby, I'm so glad you're all right," he said.

"You were stalking me?" I looked at him, my face in pain at the truth of our relationship. "Taking pictures of me through the window?"

His shoulders slumped, his hands falling to his side. "I love you, Eve. I've loved you since I first saw you. Your Dad and the others wouldn't allow me close, so I did what I could to get closer to you."

"You invaded my privacy, Mitch. I thought more of you." I looked in his eyes, ones that just this morning I'd been looking into with lust. "I can't trust you, and you took advantage of me, Mitch. I'm thankful to you for saving my life, but this," I pointed between us, "this thing isn't going to happen. You're the one I rebelled with, not the one I'm destined to be with. I realized that during my run, I was just being a fool, acting out a fantasy," I said. "When I thought my life was over, I wasn't thinking about you."

He reached for my hands, ignoring me as I pulled them free. "We can leave here, Eve, we can be happy. We can go anywhere, do anything, without your Dad or the Club telling you no." He reached out for my face, I stepped back.

"There is no 'we' anymore." I kissed his cheek, then moved back. "Thank you for saving me, Mitch. I want you to leave, I don't ever want to see you again. Now get the hell out of Minnesota while you still can."

I walked back to the car, getting back inside. The window was still down, and I could hear everything as Abaddon pulled him away.

"Snake wants to kill you, Viper wants to kill you then have Meghan resuscitate you, just so he can kill you again. Hammer, he wants to get medieval on your ass. I'd choose about anything before that," he said. "Look, I'm going to cut you a break here because you did take a bunch of those assholes out, and as a warrior I respect what you did. Here's your keys, my guy will give you a ride to where you parked. You have two days to get as far away from here and St. Paul as you can. If you are ever seen in Minnesota or Wisconsin again after that, or you approach Eve or the clubhouses, we'll kill you and bury you in a shallow grave out here."

I watched through the tinted glass, this was his one chance and he wasn't acting like he appreciated the gift he was getting. "I can't do that, Abaddon. I love her, I'm going to fight for her."

"You heard her, she doesn't want you," he said softly, but I could tell he was pissed.

"She will." He turned and looked down the road, sneaking peeks back towards my car.

I watched as Abaddon waved at one of his men. "Kushiel." The man came over, he was one of the two who had escorted Mitch out. "Take him to his motorcycle and follow him back here." He nodded and the two went off towards the other car, Mitch had his keys in his pocket. They drove off, and Abaddon walked back to me. "I tried, Eve, but some people just don't learn."

"He's stubborn, and he thinks he's in love," I said. "He won't give up."

"I know." His phone rang, he pulled it out and answered it, then handed it to me. "It's your Dad."

"Hi Daddy," I said. "Are you close?"

"We'll be there in twenty minutes," he said. "How are you doing?"

"I told Mitch to leave me alone, that I never wanted to see or talk to him again," I said. "Abaddon told me about what you found on his computer. I feel so violated."

I could hear him trying to get control as he spoke. "I know, and I'm pissed off I won't get the chance to beat the shit out of that pervert. Gabriel told me Abaddon was going to let him go."

"He did. I love you, Dad. I'll see you soon." I hung up the phone and closed my eyes while I waited for him to get here.

Abaddon's POV

I sent to Kushiel over the Pack link. "He just doesn't get it, does he?"

"Nope. He thinks he still has a chance to get her back."

I just shook my head, some people didn't learn. It's like the old line about how people learn that I'd picked up in warrior training. "Some people can learn not to do stupid shit by reading about it," my Beta told me back then, "while others have to see it happen to someone else. Then there are those stupid fucks who just HAVE to piss on the electric fence." Mitch was one of those guys. "Kushiel, grab a tracker from the glove compartment and plant it on his bike. I want you to follow him, make sure he actually leaves here and goes home. Call Mitch at the club, have him do his computer shit and set up an alarm if that bike gets within six blocks of the clubhouse."

"I'm on it, boss."

I ran my fingers through my hair, all this shit today and I hadn't even met her mate yet.

Meghan's POV

I was glad we'd brought the ambulance just in case, since a wolf had been hurt and he was Eve's mate. I'd been getting updates from Abaddon and his men on the drive up with Snake, since MY phone still was in one piece. His had shattered when he threw it out the window, after he lost his temper talking to Eve. We gave up looking for the other pieces after he found the biggest hunk in the ditch. At least he got his SIMM card back, he could always buy a new phone.

He did manage to calm down enough by the time we got to Silver Bay that I allowed him to use mine... provided he left it on the console of the old ambulance. We'd had the old ambulance professionally repainted, now it had the name of a medical transport company. It didn't attract much attention. "Don't scare her when you get there, Snake. She's going to need you."

"I know. I just don't know whether my first reaction to seeing her is going to be to hug her or put her over my knee."

"There's time for her punishment later, don't you think? She's safe, she's scared, she needs you. There's not much time left where she needs her Daddy more, she's growing up quickly now."

"I can't believe she found her mate." He looked out the window. "She's still my tiny little girl, I don't want to let her go yet. I thought I was ready for it in Chicago, but I've never been so happy to waste an entire night in my life."

"Next year this time she could be feeding her own baby," I said with a smirk. I got the reaction I expected, his hand squeezed the door. "She deserves her chance at happiness, Snake. And do you know what? So do you."

"I'm not ready to move on, Meghan."

I reached over and took his hand. "I loved her too, but it's been eighteen years. In all that time, have you even asked a woman out? Gone on a date?"

"No one could compare to my Vivian, and I've been busy."

I snorted. "Yeah, busy trying to bury the pain with work or booze or the club. What are you going to do without Eve here to live for?"

He looked out the window, his fingers rubbing his temples. "I don't know. Viper is retiring at the end of the year, you know what the problems are." I did, his arthritis was getting so bad he had a hard time gripping the handles, even after changing over to a Harley three-wheeler because his old motorcycle was too hard to muscle around anymore. "He's sixty-eight, he's done riding after this summer." If you can't ride, you can't vote, and you can't hold office.

"Are you going to run for his spot?" When someone stepped down, the Club would vote. It would be more normal for Tiny, the Vice President, to step up.

"We've talked. He's getting older as well, we all are. He's happy as Vice President, he doesn't want all the hassles of being in charge."

"Well, you should get out a little more, and live a little. You're still young and good looking, even if you have to color your hair."

He smacked my hand away, a little miffed at the dig. "And what about you? Homeschool, graduating college at eighteen, medical school, residency, private practice, and I've yet to see YOU out on a date. There's more to life than your career, young lady."

I looked out over the road, I'd been thinking about this so much lately. I was always a prodigy, always focused on my goals, always putting my personal life last. I was always the outcast, too young for my peers in class and not interested in the same things as my age group at home. My parents had been on me as well, they wanted grandchildren and I hadn't even found a decent guy. I let out a breath. "Fine. I'll make you a deal. Let's see if we can each find someone by the Jacksonville trip." I looked over at him, the trip was always tough for him because that's where he and Vivian fell in love. He went, but he wasn't the same. "Two dates a month until you find someone."

He didn't look happy. "Two a month?"

"It's not THAT much, there are at least two women hitting on you every time we go for a run. I'm sure you can scare up enough interest to get a date every other Friday."

"Fine." I smiled to myself, it was awkward enough to have to answer questions about my personal life. At least this way, I'd have someone to commiserate with.

"That's them," I said as I spotted the naked men in the woods next to the stretcher, where Gabriel and his men were pulling over to the side. "Let's go meet her mate."

Ch. 67

Snake's POV

I hopped out the passenger door of the ambulance, meeting Meghan at the doors in back. As soon as I had the first one open, she had grabbed her emergency medical kit and started to jog over to the men with it. I grabbed a bunch of extra scrubs and flipflops, stashed inside for situations like this where werewolves had to shift, and put them on top of the stretcher. I followed her into the woods, where the guys grabbed the clothes and pulled them on while I put the stretcher next to the man. I heard Gabriel and the others ride off, they were going to Eve to protect her.

He was a big guy, strong and obviously used to being outdoors and working hard. They weren't gym muscles, they were muscles of a guy who lifted logs and did manly things. Meghan was giving him a quick head-to-toe check. "How hard did you hit his head, and with what?"

"About a four-inch branch, bloop single strength to the base of the skull," Samsiel said. "He dropped straight off, no issues breathing, bleeding stopped in a few minutes. Pulse and respirations have been steady."

She carefully felt around the base of his skull with her gloved fingers, finding only a bump. Moving down, she listened to his chest, then checked his arms before going down to his legs. "Man, you guys tore him up," she said.

"It's not as bad as it looks, it's just that we weren't able to clean the dirt and stuff out before he started healing," he said.

"Yeah, this will take some time, and we're going to have to reset these breaks because they've started healing wrong. Come on, load him up." We moved him carefully, placing him face down on the stretcher. We then followed her as she walked us back to the ambulance. She hopped up, helping guide him on top of the rolling gurney before strapping him down. The straps were extra-strong nylon, and she also had nylon cuffs on his wrists to protect herself in case he started to wake up.

Using a portable ultrasound, she located the breaks and reset them. I looked away during this, the snap of bones and grinding made my stomach churn. When she was satisfied, she packed towels around to keep it from moving while she worked on the deep cuts. Using wet gauze, she soaked the wounds to remove the scabs before digging out and cleaning all the dirt and fragments that could cause infection later. I looked at the clock, she'd been at it for forty minutes already. He started to wake up as she was stitching his left calf. "Huh who? LET ME GO." He was struggling against the straps.

"Relax, please. I'm Doctor Meghan, you're in the back of my ambulance, and if you keep struggling you'll tear out those stitches I just spent twenty minutes putting in." She got down into his field of view and kept a hand on his shoulder as he relaxed. I saw him take some deep breaths, a little confused. "Yes, I'm human, and you're not," she said. "You took a good knock on the head, I need to assess that quickly. Can you tell me your name?"

"Adam. Adam Johnson."

She was checking his pupils with a light. "Where do you live, Adam?"

"I'm not sure I want to tell you that until I know who you're working with," he said. "The guys who did this to me, I can smell them."

I laughed a little, causing him to look over towards me. "Yeah, I don't blame you. They're a little overprotective of their young shewolf, just like I am." I looked at Meghan, getting her nod to undo his cuffs. He wasn't violent, so this would help calm him down. "My name is Snake, I'm her father."

He looked at me funny as the straps came off. "Don't roll over yet, Adam," Meghan told him gently. "Your legs are not splinted or cast yet, and you don't want me having to move the bones around again."

He pulled his hands up and I handed him a pillow he could get a little more comfortable. "She's my mate," he said matter of factly.

"She told me," I said.

"She should go home," he said softly as his eyes closed. "I won't stand in the way of her happiness."

I relaxed a little, I had all these fears about what her mate would end up being like. Would he be one of these cocky, self-centered guys who would try to dominate and control her? Would he treat her as his equal, or would he see her only as a breeder, a source of power and prestige? Or would he be honest and selfless, putting her first. Adam had a good start. "She doesn't want him," I said.

He snorted. "His scent was all over her, his essence on her skin," he said. "I could smell it from across the clearing, they had just sex a few hours ago."

"She didn't know, and she didn't expect to meet her mate," I said. "I shouldn't be defending her, I'm wanting to kill the guy myself for daring to corrupt my daughter. There is more to the story, and it is a discussion she should be having with you. I talked to her earlier, she broke up with him because he took advantage of her."

"Who went after me?"

"The Knights of the Moon, they are her protective detail and Pack."

"Those freaks are her protection?" He closed his eyes.

"So you've heard of them." He nodded. "They protected her mother, and they have protected Eve since she was a newborn until now, when as an adult she has found her mate. They will now protect you."

"I don't want them around, they trespassed on my lands and attacked me when I had done nothing." I could see his fists clenching.

"They were doing what they pledged to do, Adam. Every one of them took a vow to find and protect the Promised One until she could find and mate her true mate and break the curse. It hasn't been easy, there have been many close calls. They will be around until the curse is broken." I sat back a little. "They are good men, I've known them since she was a baby. If things had gone a little differently, they would have known you were her mate and they would have helped you."

Meghan had finished splinting his legs while we talked. "Well, Adam, we have a few choices here. I would like to bring you back to St. Paul where I can monitor you properly, and you can meet Eve and her family properly."

"NO." He looked at her. "Take me home, my brother and his wife will take care of me." He gave me the address, and I went and put it in my phone. It wasn't far away.

"Can Eve see you first?"

He shook his head. "My wolf won't react well to that scent on her. Better I just go home."

I called Gabriel and let him know. Ten minutes later we had our new plan. Abaddon was going to take his motorcycle and meet the ambulance at Adam's house, after that he would go back to Silver Bay and find a place the Knights could use as a base for operations. The rest of them, Eve included, were going to go on a long run and scout out the territory around his house. "No playing Chase the Shewolf," I warned.

"Never again," Gabriel said. "She will remain in the center of the Pack. It will be good for her to stretch he legs out, to work with her wolf. We'll be out a few days, Abaddon can get us if there is a problem."

"Fine. We'll take the ambulance back to the clubhouse, and I'll bring my bike back up. I need to be here for her when this finally goes down." At some point, Eve and Adam were going to have to meet and work things out.

Meghan stayed in the back with him while I pulled the ambulance back onto the road. I followed the directions until I came to the mailbox and the long driveway for his cabin. The trail was rough and it took a while for the big vehicle to make it to the end, where it opened to a nice-looking log home and detached garage, a pole barn with a tractor and a wood mill in it in the back yard. I stopped in front of the stairs, where a big male in his thirties was standing, his wife holding his waist from behind him. "We're here," I said.

I hopped down as the man came to the cab. "What's going on?"

"Adam was mistaken for a threat and was injured by the Knights of the Moon," I told him. "We patched him up but he won't be able to walk for a few days." They followed me around to the back as Meghan opened the door from inside.
The woman covered her face and started to cry as she saw Adam and the blood on the sheets. "Oh god, Adam, are you all right?"

"I'll be fine, Alice," he said as he looked back towards her. "A couple days in bed and I'll be good as new."

"I'll prepare your room," she said before she rushed off.

"She gets a little upset when we get hurt because we can't go to the hospital," her husband said. "I'm Alan, Alan Johnson, I'm this guy's big brother. I keep telling him he's not as fast as he thinks he is."

"It was four on one," Adam complained. "I got away from the first two."

"Come on, let's get him inside," Meghan said as she grabbed some extra sheets and put them on his back. We lifted the stretcher, then Alan and I carried him up the stairs and into the house. It was beautiful, with an open floor plan and loft ceilings. Alice met us in the hall, leading us to his room where she had already taken off the blankets on his bed. She and Meghan laid some of the extra hospital sheets down, Meghan having told her he might still bleed until his healing kicked in. We got him in place, and he was asleep before the covers were put over him.

The four of us walked out and to the kitchen, where Alice started to make coffee for us. "Thank you for taking care of him and bringing him back to us," Alan said. "What Pack are you in?"

"We're humans," Meghan said.

"Our motorcycle club in St. Paul has known about werewolves for decades," I said. "Meghan is the only doctor left in the country who works on them. She started working with Doctor Vivian when she was thirteen."

"Doctor Vivian? Vivian DelMara?" Alan's face was shocked as I nodded. "Oh Luna, she survived."

"For a while," I said. "She was my wife. She died almost eighteen years ago in a fight with a pack in Wyoming."

He pulled his wife tight to his side. "Doc Vivian was the Pack Doctor when I was a pup here. When she was forced to run away after the Alpha threatened her, that was the beginning of the end for our Pack." As we sipped the coffee, he told Alice about the way the curse hit his Pack, but he only knew from his end. "Eventually our Alpha got greedy, went after another Pack and that is when ours was attacked and wiped out," he said as he wiped a tear away. "Adam and I were lucky, we were at our family cabin and escaped."

I then filled him in on what had happened on our side; Vivian's escape, her hiding with our Club, us falling in love. I told him about her efforts to save the women and babies, culminating in the birth of Eve eighteen years ago. Both of them were crying as I told them about how Vivian died at the hands of a thirteen-year-old Alpha widow.

"So did you come back to visit your old Pack," Alan asked.

"No, not that simple." I explained to them the prophecy and the curse, and how we had tried to find Eve's true mate in Chicago. "She was rescued by a man I thought I could trust, but he was trying to take advantage of her for himself. They ran and ended up at the old Pack House, which is where Adam found them." I paused and looked at my hands. "Adam and Eve are true mates, Alan. They are the end to the curse, their mating will save the race."

"Eve... Eve is Jessica's daughter," Alan said as he tried to process it all. "He gets to have his mate."

"If they accept each other," I said. "After their introduction, there is some work to be done there."

Alan reached over and tool Alice's hand. "I don't mean anything bad when I say this, Alice. I love you and I gave up my wolf to be with you. The mate bond, it's something far stronger. He's stubborn, but he won't be able to withstand the pull."

We talked for a while longer, but when I heard the motorcycle pulling up I knew time was up. I introduced Abaddon to them, letting them know I trusted him with my life and that of my daughter. "She's out with the Pack for a while, since her wolf won't react well to being too far away from her mate. Their wolves have recognized each other, even if the human part is resistant," he told them. He gave them a paper with his cell phone number. "I'll be setting up in town somewhere, call me if you have any problems or questions."

"What do we do about them," Alice asked.

"Let nature work its course," Abaddon said with a smile. "They are destined to be together, it will all work out."

"Well, I might have to help things along," she said. "We should pull out your old photos, find some pictures of Doctor Vivian or Jessica." The Minnesota Long Goodbye then took place, a thirty-minute evolution that began in the kitchen and ended with Alan outside my window in the ambulance, and Alice talking to Meghan on the other side. We had exchanged numbers and promised to get together again soon. I told Alan I'd bring back some of Jessica's photos of their old Pack to look at, and he'd see if they had anything of Vivian. Abaddon fired up his motorcycle and started to move out, clearly done with the whole process.

"Thank you for everything," Alan said as he shook my hand.

"Come back soon, I'll make some hotdish!" Alice gave Meghan a hug, and we finally pulled away from the two of them. I was glad we had come with the ambulance, but I realized that I had driven all the way up here to see my daughter and I'd never even seen her.

"I never hugged Eve," I said as we drove through the rutted path towards the road. Tears ran down my face as I drove. "I miss Vivian," I said, "but she isn't coming back." Meghan held my hand as I let go of her, feeling the weight lift from my soul. It was time to move on.

Ch. 68

Meghan's POV

I was so relieved to hit the pavement again, my kidneys felt like they'd done ten rounds in the Octagon. I was so glad I'd stowed everything properly in back, as the ambulance had been tossed side to side on the uneven ground. Abaddon was waiting for us at the side of the road, he pulled out ahead of us as we were making the turn. It was a short drive to Silver Bay, then we headed south towards Duluth.

The day was beautiful, the late afternoon sun was warm on my arm despite the cool breeze off the lake. I was looking at the hills to the inside, the lake to my left past Snake's head as he drove. The roads was busy, lots of tourists and bikers around. We were in a section where the road uphill had gone to two lanes, with one of oncoming traffic; our ambulance was tucked in with the old people, the trucks and the recreational vehicles. I watched the faster traffic pulling past us on the slope, listened to the rumble of a Harley as it passed. The woman driving it was grinning, her black hair blowing in the breeze. "When we've taken this beast home, you're coming back, right?" He nodded. "Want company on the trip?"

"Sure," he said. "That might help me with the ladies." He smirked a little. "I think you got the easy end of our little deal, Meghan. You're young, smart and beautiful, I bet you could line up dates for the rest of the year in an hour just off those who have already asked you."

I blushed a little, he really didn't know what it was like for me. I was the Ice Queen, the prodigy who had never been to a school dance, never asked to a sleepover with the girls my age. While the other girls my age were learning to dance and put on makeup, I was studying microbiology and taking college courses. When they were having their Proms and going to football games, I was graduating from college. While they were dating fraternity boys and partying all weekend, I was doing my residency. My entire life I had been on the outside, never dating, never having fun. It was easier to turn them down than to deal with the fact I'd never learned how to do anything. I graduated and still hadn't had my first kiss.

I looked up just in time to see a car in the right lane ahead of Abaddon suddenly change lanes to the left. The lane wasn't empty, though; the motorcycle that had just passed was in the space the big Lincoln was moving into, blissfully unaware of what he was doing.

The Harley locked its brakes, barely holding on control as the driver finally saw her and panicked. He locked his brakes up, leaving her a pair of bad choices. She chose not to risk the oncoming traffic, instead she skidded hard right and slid across the lane into the ditch. She laid it down on the pavement, sliding off just before the front wheel hit the guardrail and flipped over. I watched her head and shoulder hit the rail before she rolled to a stop.

"SNAKE!" I screamed as he laid on the brakes, the big vehicle slowing as we pulled over to the side of the road. Abaddon had stopped just ahead of us, his Harley at the edge of the road as he ran forward to the body resting against the guardrail. He hit the flashers that we had added when we made the transport company official, and in moments I was out the door and running for the back. Snake met me there, and he grabbed the backboard as I took the medical kit.

Traffic was already slowing and moving around us as we ran back up the hill to where Abaddon was kneeling next to the woman in black leather. "Stay down, the doctor is coming," he was telling her as she tried to move. I could hear her cussing up a storm that would make a drill sergeant blush, something about assholes not looking where they were going and how she'd like to stick his phone so far up his ass he'd have to use his tonsils to dial. I glanced at Snake, he was smiling a bit, knowing this meant she probably was not hurt bad.

I set the bag down, opening it up and pulling on gloves from the pouch in top. "I'm Doctor Jenkins, what is your name?"

"Mia. Mia Taylor," she said as she grimaced in pain.

"OK Miss Taylor, I'm going to examine you for injuries if you consent. I need you to relax and just listen to me, all right?"

"Yes." She relaxed back into the road. I was sure as I examined her that she'd be in bad shape if she hadn't been wearing her protective gear. Her helmet wasn't a full-faced racing helmet, but it was enough to have taken the impact of the guardrail. I could see paint where it had bounced off. She had on a heavy leather jacket, leather chaps and heavy boots, plus she had full-finger gloves. I checked her papillary response with a flashlight, they were equal and reactive.

"Any neck pain?" I gently touched down her neck and shoulders, careful not to move her.

"It's sore but not bad," she said. I continued with checks of her extremities, verifying she still had sensation and control. "My shoulder hurts a lot, though."

I had seen her bounce off the guardrail, and symptoms could be hidden. I took the neck brace and carefully fitted it around her head. "Miss Taylor, we're being careful here because we can't rule out a head or neck injury on the side of the road. I know it's not the most comfortable thing, but we're going to tape you down to the backboard for transport. It's a precaution to make sure nothing moves around."

A State Trooper pulled in near us, directing traffic around. Snake and Abaddon carefully moved her to the backboard while I stabilized her head and neck, then we used tape to fix her helmet to the board. Abaddon ran back and got the gurney, we picked her up and rolled her back to the ambulance doors. I jumped in, and the two pushed her forward. "My motorcycle," she asked as she was slid in.

"I've called for a wrecker," Abaddon told her. "We'll need a winch to get it up from there. I'll have it taken to the Harley dealer in Duluth."

"Thank you," she said. The doors closed, and with her locked in place I buckled into the jump seat for the ride.

"Ready," Snake asked.

"Go," I said. I heard the trooper pass us with lights and sirens, and felt the old ambulance accelerate as we pulled in behind him. I put on the headset that would allow me to talk to Snake while we drove.

"How is she doing," he asked me.

"Good, this is why I'm always after you guys to wear helmets and safety gear," I said. Some of the guys in the Club were old school, wanting to go without helmets because they 'interfered with me enjoying nature.' Stuff like this made my point. "Without a helmet she'd be pushing up daisies. How's that for nature?"

Once we were steady, I unbuckled and moved around to hook up monitoring equipment. The funds Vivian had poured into the Club clinic had been kept up, and werewolf medicine was a fairly lucrative private practice. The Packs paid well when they called for my services. Her vitals were good, her blood pressure and pulse were both high but that was to be expected. I got on the radio to the emergency room at the Duluth hospital, giving the attending my report. They'd have Radiology ready when we arrived, and if the scans were good, she'd probably be released tonight. I moved closer to her, so we could see each other with her head fixed towards the ceiling. "Is there anyone I can call to let you know where you are headed?"

It was only then I saw the tears start to move down her face. "No. No one."

I took her hand, having taken the gloves off earlier during my checks. I checked her nails, she wasn't painted up, they looked like Snake's with all the little cuts and the evidence of lots of cleaning. "Where do you live?"

"Nowhere right now," she said. "My divorce just became final, and I had to sell my restaurant in Chicago as part of the final settlement. I'd always wanted to spend a summer touring, so I sold my stuff and bought the Harley. I've been on the road for two months now."

"That sounds amazing," I said. "I grew up in a motorcycle club, I'm actually in it now. Snake, he's the driver and the one who was helping me, he's been in it for decades. We were actually heading down to St. Paul to drop this beast off and get our bikes to come back and ride for a few days."

"It's beautiful up here," she said. "I've been just riding until I feel like stopping, going wherever the wind blows. I didn't plan to look for a place to settle down until September."

"Meghan, we're two minutes out," Snake said over the headset. I'd left it on, so he'd heard the whole conversation.

"We're almost there," I told her. "What kind of restaurant did you have?"

"Italian, family style dishes, lots of wine and music. It was more of a place to take your mother than your business associates," she said.

The ambulance made some low-speed turns then stopped, the doors immediately opened. I had already disconnected the monitors, and so I helped them as they pulled Mia out of the back and onto the rollers. "I'll check on you soon, Mia," I said as they took her away.

I pulled off the gloves, tossing them in the small garbage compartment, as Snake came back to stand with me. "Why don't we grab some dinner, then we can get going. I can call and make sure she's all right," I told him.

He looked like I was taking away his favorite toy. "Meghan, I don't think I can do that," he said. I stared at him until he continued. "She... her eyes... when I looked at her, there was something there," he said. "I don't want to leave until I'm sure she's all right."

"You're kidding me," I laughed as he stood there, looking in the windows where they'd taken her. "You're so desperate to get a date you're ambulance chasing?"

"MEGHAN..." I just sat on the bumper and laughed, this was SO perfect. "I called the clubhouse, one of the prospects is going to ride up here with my Harley and take the ambulance back. I thought maybe you'd be all right staying here in town overnight, then you can ride back in the morning."

"I'm in no hurry to get back to the cities, Snake. Have you seen how beautiful it is up here?" I got up and closed and locked the doors. "Come on, you owe me dinner. It's the least you can do for the Doctor who found the perfect woman for you. Harley rider, hot body, talented chef, swears like a sailor, that's pretty much all the boxes for you. And the name..."

"What do you mean? Mia is a beautiful name, she's a beautiful woman."

"Yeah. Think about her name if you guys get married and tell me if this isn't God's way of saying you belong together. I mean, what is better than Willie B. Hardigan and his lovely wife, Mia Hardigan?" I busted up laughing as I walked around to the passenger door. This was the best thing since that waitress who hit on Dad during the road trip.

I was still laughing so hard I could barely breathe as we pulled out. Snake, his mind was elsewhere.

Ch. 69

Eve's POV

We were still waiting for my Dad to get here, and I saw the motorcycles coming but no ambulance. I looked up when Abaddon opened the door and slid into the seat. "What is happening," I asked.

"Your Dad and Meghan are taking care of the injured wolf," he said. "They will be a while. Gabriel and the others are coming here to protect you."

"I'm fine," I said as I sat back again. "I'm surrounded by Pack in the middle of the woods."

"Well, you gave everyone a scare these past few days, so you'll have to be a little patient with them. Word of advice, whatever your Dad or Gabriel tell you to do, do it immediately and without any sass. You have zero slack in your leash, Eve. They aren't far from locking you up until they can trust you again."

I looked up as I saw them coming, Gabriel in the lead. They parked their bikes along the road, the others coming to greet them. "Stay here," he said as he got out.

I tried to listen to what they were saying, but as werewolves they could talk softly enough I didn't overhear the conversation. Once in a while they would look over towards me, Gabriel would shake his head, then they would continue talking. I watched Gabriel take a call, when he hung up everyone was heading for their bikes. Abaddon went to his motorcycle, started it and took off. Raguel opened the door of my car and started it up. "What's happening?"

"We're moving the vehicles out of sight," he said. I watched as we moved into the middle of the guys, driving the mile or so down the road to the old Pack House road. The guys rode single file through the trail, we followed until we got to the first area where the trees stopped and we could turn around. All of the bikes were parked facing the road again, and the guys started to strip and put their clothes in their saddlebags. Figuring we were going for a run, I took the locket and necklace I'd found and put it deep in my pocket.

Gabriel opened the door and pulled me out, leading me away from the guys while they shifted. "We've talked, your father and I, about how best to handle what is happening here."

"I'm sorry, Gabriel. I really messed my life up."

He put his big hand on my shoulder. "We're going to find a way out of this, all of us. Right now, your mate isn't happy with you and I can smell why. He's gone back to his home, where he will spend a few days resting up. In the meantime, we're going to have a wolf boot camp of sorts here."

"What do you mean?"

"Part of the problem why you and your wolf aren't on the same page is that you don't spend enough time with her, she doesn't get to be in charge often. The lack of balance can affect things in human form. What did your wolf say while you were in the hotel room with Mitch?"

I thought back, my wolf had withdrawn after telling me that it was wrong. "She fought me, but I ignored her, I pushed her so far back I didn't have to listen to her tell me it was wrong." I looked at my feet. "I didn't listen to her, either."

"Exactly," he said as we turned around. The guys had all shifted, and the wolves were spreading out, some close by the clearing, others pushing out to make sure the perimeter was safe. "When you and your wolf are truly one, you listen and trust each other. That is what we are going to do while your mate is healing."

"We're going for a run?" I opened the back door, tossing my shoes in before taking off my shirts. Gabriel and all the others were looking away from me as I stripped.
"Not just a run, we're going to stay in wolf form the whole time," he said over the Pack link since he had shifted. "We are going to run, hunt, live as a Pack and reform the bonds. When we are done, we'll see if your mate is willing to talk to you."

I tossed the rest of my clothes in the back and closed the door, quickly shifting into my white wolf with grey paws. I moved over to Gabriel, rubbing my face against his shoulder as the men gathered around him. He let out a powerful howl before he ran for the trail; as the lone female, and since I was not his mate, I ran in the center behind him and his leadership. About half of us were running in the group, the others were maintaining position up to five miles away. We kept up with each other's positions as we ran.

"My old Pack house is just over this hill," I sent. "I found my grandparent's house there, my mother's papers had photographs of it before the Pack was destroyed."

"I visited there once as a young man," Gabriel sent back. The pack was quiet, they stopped at the top of the hill overlooking the ruins of the Pack. Gabriel and I trotted down together as they watched. "The property is still in a trust for the descendants, you could live here if you wanted. Rebuild it."

I chuffed. "Rebuild? With who? It's going to take generations for this Pack to get back to what it was, and that's if my mate accepts me and the curse breaks."

"Adam."

"Huh?"

"Your mate. His name is Adam, Adam Johnson. He's from the Pack as well." I thought back to the records I had found in Jessica's stuff, there wasn't much in the way of photos of others. We trotted into the area, each sniffing the ruins.

"My family's house was over here," I said as I sniffed around the edge of what had been their house.

"I'm sorry about your family, Eve. It was a tough time for everyone, the Alphas were going nuts and many Packs were lost to war."

I kept sniffing, hearing the others move down in to the ruins and checking them out for themselves. We got closer to the edge of the clearing when I caught a good sniff of the most wonderful scent, I froze, letting it wash over me. "Mate," my wolf said to me. I could feel my body respond, I wanted him, I needed him. I followed the trail for a while before Gabriel cut me off.

"Not yet, we need to stay away from his house until he and his wolf are ready to see you," he said. "This way." He and the others moved west, and soon I heard the sound of running water. It was a hot day, and when we found the wide, deep area of the spring-fed creek, we all ran into it. My wolf was giddy as she splashed around in the cool water, rolling on her back and wiggling down into the sand and rock. We stayed in there until we were shivering, then we shook off and ran for the top of the ridge. There, we found some flat rocks to lay on while we dried out and watched the sun as it went towards the horizon. I didn't get up until Gabriel came and nudged me.

"Scouts found a moose, five miles west, we're going hunting," he told us. The men were up instantly, and I was beyond excited. Hunts were a rare thing for me, since my movements in wolf form were so restricted. I'd helped on a deer hunt once, and chased down a few rabbits, but this was exciting. My wolf was almost quivering with the need to prove herself as we headed off in a long line.

We stopped at the top of the rise, looking down at the swampy area off the small lake. The wind was in our faces, perfect for our hunt. "We're going to wait until the sun dips down," Gabriel said. "That will help hide our approach over this open ground." He divided the group into four; two groups would focus on preventing the moose from escaping, just harassing it back towards the others. One group headed by Gabriel would attack from the front, while the other led by Michael would circle around behind the bull moose, attacking the flanks and legs. Cooperation was a must, as a two-thousand-pound bull was dangerous prey. The antlers, over six feet across, could tear you in half, and those big hooves could crush your skull.

Haniel, one of the younger members at thirty, was assigned to be my bodyguard. "Don't let her approach until I tell you it's all right," he instructed him. We were assigned to one of the two herding groups.

When the sun finally dipped just below the horizon, it was time. The moose was slowly working his way towards solid ground, moving from out right to left. Michael's group took off first, they followed the curve of the lake, pushing through the swamp and above-ground areas. When they were within fifty yards, they crouched down, noses still in the wind. The two herding groups went next, our group going well left, circling around until we were between the moose and the deep woods. We would circle to the back side on the attack, cutting off his escape, while the other group would cover back towards where we came. When we were in position, Gabriel's group moved quickly and silently down the slope, trying to get as close as possible before being spotted.

"GO," he sent as his group broke into a run. The bull spotted them just before Gabriel leaped, snorting in alarm and turning quickly towards them. Gabriel got underneath his muzzle, his teeth tearing into the soft throat before he leaped away, the big horns barely missing him. The enraged bull charged him, only to have Michael and Azazel each leap for his back legs. Michael's bite just behind the knee cut his hamstring, while Azazel ripped a big chunk off his flank.

The bull stopped his charge, turning towards the pursuing wolves who quickly leaped back. His snorts and stomps filled the air as the werewolves pressed their attacks, always striking and retreating as the bull started to tire. A few minutes later, bleeding from multiple wounds and barely able to lift his head, Gabriel spotted an opening and leaped for his throat again. The other wolves crashed into the side of the moose, causing it to stumble and fall as Gabriel held on with a death grip.

"Attack the legs now, everyone to him, don't let him up," he sent as he hung on to the struggling bull. We raced forward, my wolf eager for the chance to do her part. She found an opening in his soft underbelly, and we tore into the flesh with teeth and claw. A minute late, there was one raspy breath and the moose stilled. We backed off, my wolf was shaking, we had done this! Gabriel lifted his nose to the sky and let out a howl, joined by me and the others as we thanked Luna for our kill.

We stayed back, waiting our turn, until invited closer. Gabriel tore off a chunk of liver and tossed it to me, I gobbled it down before licking his face in thanks. Our Pack ate well that night; a normal wolf could eat over twenty pounds of meat in one sitting, our larger wolves could do even more. We gorged ourselves on the tender flesh, eating until our bellies were distended and we barely had the energy to move.

We cleaned off in the lake, then found a sheltered location under trees for the night. Tucked into the center of the Pack, I was safe, secure and content with everything except what I needed the most. I got up, heading to the edge of the woods to relieve myself. Two men went with me as I walked down to the lake, drinking some of the cool water, before sitting and letting out a pained howl to the sky. I wanted my mate, I just poured my pain and loss into the song as I begged Luna to help me get him back.

Adam's POV

I woke in the middle of the night, Alan was reading by me bedside. "How are you feeling," he asked.

"Like I got run over," I said. I looked at the open door to my bathroom. "I have to go," I told him.

He helped me sit up, then brought me an empty Gatorade bottle. "Low tech, but Doc says you shouldn't stand up until tonight at the earliest," he said. I pulled my boxers aside, relaxing as I filled the bottle and capped it. He took it, taking it into the bathroom to take care of, and came back out with a wet towel and a dry one. I cleaned up as best I could, then he helped me sit up in bed. "I saved you some dinner, you've been sleeping for eight hours," he told me.

"Open the window?" He did so as he left, my nose taking in the comforting scent of the forest around me. I heard him in the kitchen, the microwave beeping.

My ears perked as I heard a howl, I froze, listening to the pain and loss in the sound. My wolf was distraught, he knew who it was. It was my mate, and her heart was broken. I closed my eyes as each note tore through my soul, my wolf begging to go to her.

"We'll see," I told my wolf.